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Monday, 13 January 2014

Tour Giveaway & Exceprts: Kissed by the Dark Prince - Felicity Heaton

Olivia thinks it’s her lucky night when a dangerously handsome unconscious fae ends up on her inspection table. He’s her chance to redeem herself with her employer, the demon-hunting organisation, Archangel. But when the tall, dark and deadly immortal warrior awakes, she gets much more than she bargained for…

Attacked by his enemy in the elf kingdom, the last thing Prince Loren expects when he comes around is a beautiful angel watching over him and medical technology of the mortal realm. Hazy from his injuries, all he can focus on is the pulse ticking in her throat and the sweet allure of her blood.

One single bite reveals she is his eternal mate, triggering a bond between them that will leave him weakened until it is complete… or broken, and pulling Olivia into the crossfire of his ancient feud.

To protect his people and his mate from the machinations of a madman, Loren must risk everything by working with Olivia at Archangel to find a way to break the bond blossoming between them.

But will Loren be strong enough to place duty before desire and give up the one thing he has waited millennia for and craves above all others—his eternal mate? And will Olivia be able to resist the incredible heat that burns between them and the temptation of her dark prince’s kiss?

It’s great to be back here at Bex n Books today as part of the Kissed by a Dark Prince Book Tour celebrating the release of the first book in my new Eternal Mates series of paranormal romance novels.

Today, I’m going to be sharing an excerpt from the book.

But before we get to the main event, I want to introduce myself. I’m a British paranormal romance author and a USA Today best-seller. I have been writing since 2005, and went indie in 2006. I love to write big worlds, populated by vampires, shifters, demons, fae and angels, and I have several series. This tour is about the Eternal Mates series, which is actually a spin-off from my Vampire Erotic Theatre series. That series focused on a family of vampires at one theatre in London but it had glimpses into the wider world outside the theatre. It’s that world of fae, dark elves, demons, witches, shifters, and other incredible species that the Eternal Mates focuses on.

Loren padded silently across the dark stone floor to the
elegant wardrobes lining the wall of his bedroom, drying his hair at the same
time. All eight doors were black wood decorated with a beautiful inlay made of
precious stones and shells, depicting dragons and his kind, living in harmony
with all the kingdoms. Life had been like that once, thousands of years ago.
Now, many of the demon kingdoms wanted him dead, blaming him and his people for
his brother’s ruthless attacks on their villages.

Only the first and second demon kingdoms kept the other five
from razing his lands and murdering his people. He had signed a peace treaty
with them a thousand years ago. The kingdoms didn’t tolerate any individual
demon from outside their realm passing through it without permission, let alone
an army.

He took a pair of black tight trousers from the stack and
slipped them on, fastening them over his hips, and then jammed his bare feet
into his black leather riding boots.

His markings flared, a hot shivery feeling that always made
him tense. They had done that too often since he had taken blood from the
female, unsettling him.

It wasn’t the only anomaly.

He wasn’t healing as quickly as he should have either. It
had been two days. His wounds should be gone by now, but they lingered, and he
felt weaker than usual. His brother’s attack had been severe, but he had taken
blood from the female and had drunk stored blood since returning to his world.
He had eaten too, devouring the plates of nourishing vegetables and fruits that
Bleu had pressed him to consume even when he hadn’t felt hungry. He should have
healed by yesterday.

Perhaps he needed more blood.

Loren raked his fingers through his damp black hair and
crossed the expansive bedroom. Daylight flowed in through the tall arched
windows lining the wall to his right, where his bed was. Someone had been in
while he had been resting and opened the twin arched doors that led onto his
balcony. A breeze swept in through them, tousling the sheer blue curtains,
carrying the scent of flowers.

He stopped at the long black low cabinet that lined the
shorter side of his bedroom and opened one of the doors. Someone had topped up
the icebox too. The small triangular metal containers of blood in the dark
stone box smelled faintly of Bleu. Loren smiled to himself and took one of the
canisters out.

Bleu had been livid with him when he had come to take him
from the female doctor’s laboratory. Loren had received more than an earful.
Bleu had practically scolded him, sounding much like the mother Loren had lost
almost five thousand years ago.

His second in command had never learned how to express his
feelings. Whenever he was concerned, it came out as angry. Loren appreciated
his friend’s concern though, and that he had managed to track him to the mortal
world before the humans had, well, he still wasn’t sure what their intention
had been.

Studying him.

The female had said she desired to study him.

She had desired to help him.

Loren groaned at the memory of what he had done after that.
He had bitten her. He had felt weak and shaky, on the verge of passing out from
the pain of his injuries. It had been instinct. She had smelled divine and had
been so close to him, so warm and beautiful. He hadn’t been able to stop
himself.

He pulled the cap off the canister and swiftly gulped the
contents down. He closed the cabinet door and set the empty canister down on
the top, and walked across the room, passing his bed and heading for the double
doors beyond them that stretched twenty feet high. The light blue fabric
caressed his bare torso as he moved through the curtains. The blood would kick
in soon and then he would feel better.

His stomach cramped, pain vibrating through his body. He
shot a hand out and grasped the door to his left, clutching it for support.
Something was wrong. He should be growing stronger but he felt as though he was
getting weaker.

Loren’s eyes shot wide and he held his stomach, fighting a
wave of nausea.

Cold fingers danced down his spine, chilling his blood in his
veins.

The female was more than a source of sustenance. She was
different. Not just a normal human. Did she know it? Did Vail?

Loren had a terrible feeling that his brother knew.

Ki’ara.

His knees weakened. She couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible that
the human doctor was his fated female. His ki’ara.

Loren growled, his frustration getting the better of him. He
had wanted to find his ki’ara for almost fifty centuries but he didn’t need
this now and he certainly didn’t need her to be a member of some sort of
demon-hunting organisation.

Icy claws drifted down his back again and curled around his
heart.

He feared that it wasn’t fate that had brought him together
with his eternal mate now.

It was his brother.

He needed to know exactly what had happened the night he had
met her.

Loren pushed away from the door and stumbled across the
room, aiming for the bed. He had to be careful though. If he was right, and he
had bonded the female to him, returning to her might not be a wise move.

Bonded males could become extremely aggressive and dangerous
in the presence of their female.

Vail was proof of that.

The completed bond with the dark witch had changed him and
Loren felt certain that it was responsible for his brother’s madness and thirst
for violence. If he had taken the first step in binding himself to the female
doctor, he couldn’t afford to let it change him as it had changed his younger
brother. He could never complete it, no matter how long he had waited for his
ki’ara. The fate of his people rested on his shoulders.

He needed to find a way to shatter the fragile bond.

If she was his ki’ara.

There was one way of finding out.

If she were, he would be able to use the bond between them
to locate her. His knees hit the mattress and he collapsed on his front and
rolled onto his back.

Loren closed his eyes and focused, turning his thoughts
inwards, towards the female and her blood. He found a slender thread of her
within him and held on to it, using his psychic abilities to enhance it, until
it grew into a thicker ribbon of colours that swirled like his markings,
iridescent and beautiful. His breathing grew laboured, the strength it took to
use his abilities weakening him further. A room shimmered into focus in his
mind, a place with cream walls and soft brown furniture, and technology he had
never seen before.

The female walked into view, dressed in her long white coat
and dark tight trousers beneath them, her chestnut hair twirled into a knot at
the back of her head.

Loren stood and willed his personal portal to appear. Violet
and blue light chased over his body, outlining it, and he commanded it to take
him to the female.

He appeared behind her in her small apartment. He had been
to this building before. It smelled familiar. She lived in the place where she
worked.

He had wanted to speak with her here, where familiar things
would surround her and she wouldn’t feel threatened, but he couldn’t risk her
raising the alarm.

Loren grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth with his
hand. She instantly began wriggling in his arms, rubbing her backside against
his groin, reigniting the desire he had barely managed to leash back in his
bathing room. He ground his teeth together and caged her against his body, and
willed himself to return to the portal in his room.

The moment his rooms appeared around him, he released her
and she turned on her heel and smashed her fist into his mouth.

Loren stumbled and fell on his backside, the impact with the
cold stone jarring his spine.

His female stood over him, a fiery glow in her dark eyes,
her lips compressed into a thin line of fury.

She was beautiful.

But she could never be his.

No matter how long he had waited for her, had dreamed of
having his ki’ara, he had to do the right thing for a change. He had to place
his people first and he had to defeat his brother.

There was only one way he would be strong enough to battle
and kill Vail.

He looked up at the female towering over him, his heart
beating in synchronisation with hers, his body weakened by their incomplete
connection.

He had to find a way to break their bond and let her go.

He had to sacrifice his dreams.

I hope you enjoyed this brief peek into Kissed by a Dark Prince!

Be sure to follow this fantastic tour to learn more about the passionate heroes and sassy heroines in the Eternal Mates romance series! You can also find yourself in with a chance to WIN a $50 or $25 Amazon Gift Certificate if you follow the tour. More details, including how to enter and a full list of stops, are available at the Kissed by a Dark Prince Virtual Book Tour page: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/kissedbyadarkprince-book-tour.php

Kissed by a Dark Prince is available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBooks stores and other retailers. Also available in paperback. Find the links to your preferred retailer and a downloadable 6 chapter excerpt at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/kbadp

Felicity Heaton is a USA Today and international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!

If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.